Waiting for the smoke that a new pope uses

After the men who will select the next Pope were locked up in the Sixtine Chapel on Wednesday, the only thing that was still to do was to send a signal to the outside world. By smoke.

The very secret mood started in what is possible one of the world’s most safe vaults in the early evening, with the 133 cardinals who have to decide who will succeed Pope Francis Write the names of candidates on voting cards by hand and try to hide their handwriting.

Outside on Sint -Pietersplein, thousands of believers, the curious and the holiday came together to wait for the news to see if the cardinals had succeeded in choosing a papal successor. Word came at 9 p.m., in the form of black smoke wavy of a chimney that was installed on the roof of the chapel last week.

If the smoke had been white, this would have led to the cardinals in a dozen year in just one voting round chosen the first new pope, an achievement that was not seen for centuries.

But the black smoke, made when the ballot papers of the cardinals are burned in a cast iron stove, means that they have to try it again.

“We are cold, we are hungry, we are thirsty, but we cannot move,” said the Reverend Peter Mangum, 61, a priest in the church of Jesus the Good Shepherd in Monroe, LA. He and three other priests had been on the square for about seven hours, and father Magnum’s fourth time was waiting for news from a new pope.

He had been in the same place for the elections of John Paul II, Benedictus XVI and Francis, and he did not admit until he knew Wednesday’s news. “We had to make sure the smoke was black,” he said.

In an era where the news travels directly all over the world, the patience -raised waiting for the smoke on St. Peter’s Plein is a ritual that dates from the 19th century.

For some, fear was intense. “I think there is more nervousness among people outside than among the cardinals themselves,” said Tania Radesca, who arrived at the square at 1 p.m.

Mrs. Radesca, from Venezuela, had registered to help during the jubilee, a year of pilgrimage that takes place every 25 years, and she arrived in Rome a little more than a month ago. She was on Easter Sunday on St. Peter -Square and caught a last glimpse of Pope Franciscus in his popemobile.

He died a day later.

Those who arrived early to score places on the barricades closest to the front of the Basilica of St. Peter draped flags from their home countries along the barriers and became friends while they settled. Others camped on yoga mats or picnic blankets.

Many had taken a long way, specifically for the conclave. Rodrigo Pinto, 43, a retired karate instructor, flew 23 hours from Guatemala, landed on Tuesday afternoon and went directly to St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday so that he could wait for the first sign of smoke.

Mr. Pinto, who was wearing a rosary, said, said “I want to be part of something I have always seen on TV, in documentaries, on the internet.” After he stood in the rain in the morning and in the afternoon under the hot sun, he said, “Three hours ago it was like hell. Sorry, St. Peter.”

In a post office within the square, Jennifer Raulli, 54, wrote postcards to her children in the university in the United States. She was on vacation in Rome with one of her daughters, who has just graduated from Texas Christian University, and had received tickets to see Pope Francis say on Wednesday. Instead, they arrived in the square to wait for the smoke that the man could herald that replaces him.

“It will take a long few hours, but I would not miss it,” said Mrs. Raulli, who had traveled from Pasadena, California, Mrs. Raulli, who was raised and converted to Catholicism when she was 37, said she would prefer a “more conservative” Paus because she would like the church that would like it.

The day of waiting started at 10 am when Giovanni Battista Re, the SPRY, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals, a mass foreseen in St. Peter’s Basilica and begged the cardinists entitled to vote to choose “A Pope knows how best the conscience of all and spiritual energy seals.

While the cardinals gave each other the sign of peace during the service, Cardinal Re. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, The Vatican State Secretary under Francis and considered a leading candidate to succeed him. A microphone caught on cardinal, wishing Cardinal Parolin the best wishes.

Cardinal Matteo ZuppiAnother potential candidate who appeared with a new haircut shook the hands of his colleagues Warm. Cardinal Jean-Marc-nobleMarseille’s Archbishop and was also considered a papal competition, stopped for a prayer for the reliquary of the remnants of the remains of Pope John XXIII – A hero for many liberal Catholics for his efforts to modernize the church.

After lunch in the Casa Santa Marta, the residence in the Vatican where the voters stay through the conclave, the cardinals walked to the Sixtine Chapel. As they entered the chapel, they sang the litany of the saints, while a choir chased the names of the saints. The cardinals answered with “Ora Pro Nobis” or “Bid for us.” Outside on the square, many waved on the large video screens that the basilica flanked and reflected the singing of the cardinals.

In the Sistine Chapel, name labels were placed on the long tables for the cardinals where they would vote. Francis mentioned many more cardinals than are two predecessors, some from countries far from the VaticanAnd many of the papal voters – and potential popes – don’t know each other.

Around 5:45 pm, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, the master of pontifical liturgical festivals, announced ‘extra omnes’, a Latin sentence that means ‘everyone away’. The gigantic wooden doors were closed, leaving the 133 cardinal voters – who were younger than 80 who can vote in the secret mood – inside.

The cardinals are not allowed to leave the Vatican until a two -thirds majority agree on the next pope. Phones, internet, television and any contact from outside the Vatican walls are forbidden, a tailor -made forced to discourage the process through dragging.

Some veteran voters believed that there would be a long -term mood. ‘Bring a book“Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan From New York said he advised other cardinals on Tuesday, in an interview on Tuesday.

The conclave started 16 days after Francis’ dead on April 21.

The meaning of the moment was not lost, not even with those who had little knowledge of Catholicism.

Yuichiro Yamakoshi, 41, a Japanese tourist who traveled with his wife, said that after touring the Vatican museums and walking through the doors of the four most important basilicas that are usually only open during the jubilee, he started to understand the power and influence of faith. Although the few on Tuesday had come to St. Peter’s Square with a guide, they returned on Wednesday morning for a memorial photo that marked the conclave.

While the black smoke disappeared in the sky, there was only waiting for another day.

Of all the people who happen to be in Rome before the start of the papal conclave on Wednesday, the pilgrims of the St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston may have one of the most moving stories. The 47 believers who had traveled to Rome with their priest – also by chance Francis – had planned a meeting with Pope Franciscus this Wednesday. Instead, they were on St. Peter’s Square during the last mass before the conclave that started later in the day.

One of the group, George Smith, 69, said, “It’s a blessing for us.”

While a river of people flowed out of the square, a group of Romans who were convinced that the smoke shook and embraced the smoke. “See tomorrow!” They said.

Emma Bubola” Elisabetta Povoledo” Jason Horowitz” Elizabeth Dias” Matthew Mpoke Bigg And Josephine de la Bruyère has contributed to reporting from Vatican City.